update - hair trim support/advice

my hair is in a bunch of two strand twists right now. i never straighten or use heat on my hair so after reading motowngirl.com, nappturality.com and here i think triming the ends of my twists might be the best option. i don't care about all over even hair at all.

i was fine with going somewhere to get it trimmed but the last person i went to was ROUGH with my hair (ouch) and the other place i called said it would be $55+ because the don't do "partial services" so that's the price for a wash, condition and cut. i like the products i'm using so i don't want to go through new products and a new person and explaining why i don't want my hair shampooed.

Comments

I suggest you just go for it and trim how much you want from the ends of your twists just make sure you use sharp hair scissors since triming with anything else can do more harm than good to your ends.

FYI: I have learned from experience that when you tirm the ends of twists you don't get all the indivivual hair ends and at some point you may need to do a loose hair trim to get all individual ends if you have damage.

thanks for the advice bookworm! i have no reason to think i have damage...i am just trying to be proactive and make sure my ends stay good. motowngirl suggests cutting at an angle, do you agree with that? for starters i'm going to just trim a tiny bit on the tips only just to see how it goes.

I also use the twist method to trim my ends. I just make about 15-20 twists (4-6 front and 10 or so in the back) and carefully trim the ends in the bathroom mirror so that the twists line up the same on either side.

I usually just start with the front and work my way down to the sides and back and if you look at your twists as they hang on each side of your shoulder, you sould be able to line both sides up pretty well. But, it's true that if you want them perfectly even, then you'll need to flatiron and then have a friend with a steady hand help you (I only trust my friends with long hair to do this when I need outside help) but a barber can also trim straight ends and they won't charge you for services you don't want.

Also, as you gain more length over time, you will find that healthy hair needs fewer trims and some people manage with trims as few as every 6 months, but basically every 4 or 6 months should do and you don't have to trim needlessly if you don't have split ends or color treated hair, etc...

btw, about how long does this take? i have LOTS of tiny twists. some are little bigger than others. i'm hoping it won't matter as long as i grasp the the ends well.

i don't care about perfectly even hair...i won't be flat ironing...i haven't blow dried or flat ironed my hair in more than 7 years before i went natural so the thought of that scares me. this is around the 5 month mark for me.

well i did it! i snipped a little off of each end. it wasn't so bad. it took me about an hour. i won't know the final results until i untwist my hair which won't be until this weekend or so when i wear it out....but i feel good about it. if it went well i'm never turning back. i secured it with clips. there were a few times when the hair came out of a clip and i couldn't remember if i snipped or not...but if anything i cut too little and not too much. since my ends didn't look bad i can live with that. this would be great because i would love to be able to cut my hair according to the lunar charts which is hard if you're depending on someone else...

oh well big thanks to you ladies that gave advice!!! i feel like a bonified, for real natural girl now!! i've been natural since 99 but this was the first time i cut my own hair!!!

ok i won't continue to bore you ladies with my hair trim posts but i just wanted to say that the finished product is nice....i untwisted my hair little by little over the last several days and i love it...no broken off pieces, ends look good and full. i feel great about it! thanks to all for the advice!!

okay so i'm not doing two strand twist anymore because of the tangles and knots that occur...so how do i trim my hair from the loose/fro state?

Hey girl!

I've been going to the salon to get 'dry' trims. You know I use to twist and trim myself, but going to the salon and letting a professional do it has done wonders for my hair!! I know, I need to post some pics, but just to tell you... she blow dries my hair with comb attachment and then hits it with a flat iron and trims my ends. I love it because my hair is trimmed evenly all over and in its curly state it has better shape. At first I was going every 6 wks (because I was trying to get the Phyto out... my ends were really bad), but now I'm on a 12 week schedule. No kidding, my hair has fewer to no knots and the curls are actually clumping!!! :blob7::icescream: Go figure that! So, now I have coils, all over my head... its crazy?!??!?!!! I'm excited!!:hello1: I still have a ways to go as far as growth, but I feel like I've made a major breakthrough... go me!!!

4a/4b... at this point, Henna has to be my friend, cause I've tried EVERYTHING else!!

okay so i'm not doing two strand twist anymore because of the tangles and knots that occur...so how do i trim my hair from the loose/fro state?

Hey girl!

I've been going to the salon to get 'dry' trims. You know I use to twist and trim myself, but going to the salon and letting a professional do it has done wonders for my hair!! I know, I need to post some pics, but just to tell you... she blow dries my hair with comb attachment and then hits it with a flat iron and trims my ends. I love it because my hair is trimmed evenly all over and in its curly state it has better shape. At first I was going every 6 wks (because I was trying to get the Phyto out... my ends were really bad), but now I'm on a 12 week schedule. No kidding, my hair has fewer to no knots and the curls are actually clumping!!! :blob7::icescream: Go figure that! So, now I have coils, all over my head... its crazy?!??!?!!! I'm excited!!:hello1: I still have a ways to go as far as growth, but I feel like I've made a major breakthrough... go me!!!

thanks for sharing! please post pics!! i have never straightened my hair since being natural. i'm sort of scared that so much will come out if i blow dry and with the heat of a flat iron. do you lose a lot of hair? i do need some shape to my hair!!

i have never straightened my hair since being natural. i'm sort of scared that so much will come out if i blow dry and with the heat of a flat iron. do you lose a lot of hair? i do need some shape to my hair!!

Luvmylocs...if you blow dry freshly detangled hair on a low heat setting in sections, you shouldn't have any problem losing hair. I blow dry my hair occasionally (every 2-3 months when I flat iron it and I've never had a problem.

last night while my hair was dry i fluffed it out with my hands and clipped random hair balls and knots at the end. that was the first time i tried that "method" and i like the results. it's not perfect but my hair feels good. i thought about another poster who went to see the author of curly girl and how she mentioned cutting our hair is like tending to a garden. that's what i thought as i went through trimming here and there. i think your hair has to be dry for it to work well.

i just wanted to share for those thinking of trimming for themselves that this method worked for me.

last night while my hair was dry i fluffed it out with my hands and clipped random hair balls and knots at the end. that was the first time i tried that "method" and i like the results. it's not perfect but my hair feels good. i thought about another poster who went to see the author of curly girl and how she mentioned cutting our hair is like tending to a garden. that's what i thought as i went through trimming here and there. i think your hair has to be dry for it to work well.

i just wanted to share for those thinking of trimming for themselves that this method worked for me.

That's pretty much what I've been doing. I trim as needed, so that could be once a month (4 wks) or even more at times. I've been doing my own trims over the summer after having had a mini-chop this year in February. (Don't even get me started on how this "stylist" claimed to know how to do curly hair and when I saw her technique I knew she was full of sh*t.)

I pretty much have always cut dry, and I only trim very very small bits off the tips so I don't cut too much at one time accidentally. I have done "trims" on myself before where I took out big noticeable chunks in the back where I couldn't see.. so now I'm more conservative with the scissors.

Good for you for having the courage to take over the care of your hair! :afro:

"The challenge is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everybody else."